The present invention relates to a portable lock for use with a chain binder to prevent unauthorized removal of the chain binder.
In the past, arrangements have been suggested for latching or locking chain or load binders, of the so-called overcenter type, in their load tightened position. Overcenter chain binders of the type to be secured with the portable locking device of the present invention generally include two tension elements or halves which are attached to the ends of a pair of chains, or the opposite ends of a single chain. The tension elements are interconnected by a rigid handle which is swung between opened and closed positions, respectively, for releasing and tightening the chains over a load. The tension elements are moved by the operation of the rigid handle, around spaced apart pivotal axes, one of which axes ultimately moves to a slightly overcenter position with respect to the other.
Known latching or locking arrangements for these load binders usually take the form of projecting fingers or spurs formed integrally with the lever arm or first half of the binder, or holes formed in the second or other half of the binder, so that when the two halves of the binder are squeezed together, the integral fingers or holes coact with a lock to hold the two halves securely together. Examples of such structures are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,954,252; 3,974,668; 4,062,206 and 4,238,940.